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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 24, 2016 13:39:23 GMT -5
Her glass was halfway to her mouth when Julian threw a little bombshell that caused Lyra to freeze. She stared at him for a moment, then asked "today?" as if his saying so the first time was not confirmation enough. Now she felt doubly guilty for her actions the day before when he had been relatively kind to her.
Lyra's parents wanted nothing to do with her, but at least they were both alive. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Nicolas to lose his mother. You weren't supposed to deal with such a loss until you were much older.
"No wonder he was in such a foul mood when I arrived."
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 24, 2016 14:18:49 GMT -5
Julian set the dinner to cooking itself as he poured his own glass of wine then took a deep drink. He had a faraway look in his eyes as he recalled Nik's past. He sighed.
"She died giving birth to Nik's sister. They took it pretty hard. Nik's father and Nik too, and I guess Vanessa thought that they blamed her for it or something and ran away. Nik tried to find her, but..." he shook his head.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 24, 2016 14:39:54 GMT -5
Lyra stared into her water for a moment before setting the glass on the counter behind her. Nik's story was even sadder than she had realized and she actually felt sympathy for him. She tried earnestly to ignore her automatic response that she should take joy in his suffering as this was actual suffering and not some silly game of wits between the friends/enemies.
Lyra took a few steps to close the gap between her and Julian, running her hand through his hair as she stared at his handsome face so deep in thought. "Maybe we should invite him over for dinner? Or take him out. I feel awful for leaving him alone now. He shouldn't be alone today."
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 24, 2016 15:56:46 GMT -5
Julian gave her a small loving smile, "That's a very kind thought pet, but Nik is a beast this time of year. Understandably of course. He generally refuses any kind of company, I'm rather surprised that he spent time with you. He doesn't even spend time with Sam. Lord knows she's tried, we all have."
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 24, 2016 16:17:06 GMT -5
"Well, we all know I'm his favorite," she said humorously, though in actuality Julian's statement gave her pause. Why had Nik broken his tradition of ignoring his friends to spend the day playing a silly drinking game with Lyra. She was rather certain that Nik didn't even like her that much, though the evidence to the contrary was steadily building.
Lyra sighed, not knowing what to do or even if there was anything anyone could do. Nik's sister was gone and there was no bringing back his mother. Sometimes there were just problems in life that couldn't be fixed.
She laid her head on Julian's shoulder and traced invisible patterns on his chest. "We should take him out later, then. When he's feeling better. If you're up for it, of course." They weren't dating, which meant that they weren't going out on dates and she wasn't technically his girlfriend. Any time they did spend together was at home, mostly at Lyra's flat as she didn't want him to feel pressured to share anything too private and his home was rife with memories of Belle as well as his and Lyra's complicated relationship over the past several months. It was safer at her home, and she didn't want him to feel uncomfortable going into public with her, even if it was just as friends. Of course, Lyra had additional plans to take Julian out, so their first outing being with Nik and presumably Sam could only help her other clever little ploy.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 24, 2016 16:19:59 GMT -5
Julian nodded, "He usually comes out of it after a week or so and is back to his usual self." he assured her.
He too was surprised and confused that Lyra had been able to penetrate Nik's defenses, then again they had been spending a lot of time together. The thought gave him pause, but he shook the idea from his mind.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 24, 2016 16:42:09 GMT -5
"A week? That's an awful lot of sulking. And he does this every year?" Lyra shook her head sympathetically and then gave a small smile. "Well, I guess it gives us time to plan something nice. I'll send Sam an owl tomorrow about it."
"But for tonight," she continued with an impish grin, "I can't help but notice my favorite gentleman is standing in my kitchen making me dinner." She leaned in to his body and said with a seductive whisper, "you know how sexy it is when a man cooks, don't you?" Although the talk of Nicolas' situation had sobered her slightly, she was still drunk enough to want to make terrifically bad decisions with Julian.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 24, 2016 16:53:46 GMT -5
Vanessa left a few days after her birthday, it had been a tragedy that Nik blamed himself for, though no one but Sam and Nik knew why. To the outside world Nik appeared the very loving older brother, but it hadn't always been the case. Victor had blamed Vanessa for his wife's death, and young Nik allowed his father to poison his mind against the girl. Though he never hated Vanessa as his father did, he did treat her coldly, but he did care even at his worst moments. The worst of which had been the night that she disappeared. He would have given everything and anything up if it meant having Vanessa back home. If he could just tell her that he hadn't meant it, and that he loved her. This time of year was a reminder of the death of his mother and then his own failure as a brother.
But Julian didn't dwell on any of it when Lyra looked the way she did, and gave him the heated looks that she did. He felt mild shock at how quickly one look could set him on fire.
"I'm not adverse to letting you tell me how sexy it is. Or showing me for that matter." he cleared his throat.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 24, 2016 17:00:17 GMT -5
Lyra's eyes smiled as she bit her lower lip and pulled him to her bedroom, knowing Mimsy would take care of the meal if anything needed to be attended to before they had finished. Lyra only had eyes for Julian and would have felt more than hurt had she known of the brief consideration Julian had given to Lyra and Nicolas' relationship.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 24, 2016 17:05:09 GMT -5
No, they weren't dating. But they were in love, and they wanted one another with a passion that threatened to consume them both. Making love was the natural outcome. Bad decisions be damned.
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